CNN by Robert McNally 2/8/2021
At first glance, President Joe Biden's executive order revoking the 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline cross-border permit may seem to be a symbolic bone throw to the environmental community. After all, the once cause célèbre pipeline project is much less economically viable now than when it launched 12 years ago and oil was at $100 per barrel. But quashing Keystone XL matters in two underappreciated and important ways.
First, Biden's reversal of the cross-border permits for the pipeline kicks off a regulatory onslaught on the petroleum industry's value chain, with unprecedented breadth, assertiveness and tangible investment impacts. Though this reversal won't damage the oil industry much, and it isn't absolutely essential to American oil right now, there are long-term consequences to this decision.
When oil prices next boom (and trust me, they will), investors will resume interest in pipeline projects and whoever is in the White House may regret Keystone XL's cancellation because the United States will have to rely more on less stable trading partners for oil.
More:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/perspectives/keystone-cancel-biden/index.html